Another Path?
by BeautifulArbiterDreamland
Summary: Vader deviated from Cannon and threatened the Alliance to either give him Luke or be destroyed. Luke isn't ready, considering this happens only a few months after Bespin. And so he deviates onto another path, one that may turn out for good or evil. This is my first fanfiction, so helpful criticism would be appreciated
1. Chapter 1

Leia sat stunned in her seat during the Council meeting. While she was still coming to terms with the news they all just heard, the rest of the Council was arguing about what to do. Arguing about Luke Skywalker's fate. Vader had just approached the Alliance, giving them an ultimatum: give over his son, or be destroyed. Leia had approached and asked just who Vader was talking about.

"Princess, my son happens to be the famed Commander of the Rebellion, Commander Luke Skywalker himself."

The Council asked for time to make the decision. It was granted, but the _Executor_ would only leave once the Alliance was destroyed, or Luke was. And so now they argue, and he isn't even here. Leia only woke up from her stupor when someone suggested that there had to be another way.

"What if Luke gave the impression of being forced to go over, and broke free and escaped, and we all jump into hyperspace once he does," Leia nearly shouted over the den. Everything went quiet, almost like they were giving her words serious consideration. Her gut told her better.

Mon spoke up. "It's a good idea. Let us ask the Commander himself."

Some idiotic voice broke the silence. "But he could be a spy!"

Idiocy reigned again. Leia silently stood up, nodded at Mon, and left the room. Luke would join this conversation whether or not the rest of Council liked it. Only Luke could truly make this decision.

Luke stood before the Council, dreading what was about to come. Leia had given him the watered down version before he entered, but when the Council was like this, he had good reason to fear. This side of Council is what brought about the suicide runs that had lost good men and women their lives. Leia was right. This was truly idiotic.

"Commander, I believe you have three choices," Mon Mothma spoke over the other members with ease. "You can turn yourself over to Vader." Nope. "You can stay and endanger the Alliance." Also Nope. "Or you can give the appearance and find a way to escape, while we do the same, and probably end up exiled for a time."

Well, the best option seemed to be three. But it would need some work.  
"Of course Lady Mothma, and I believe you already know my answer. Three is our best bet. However," Luke thought for a minute, "it needs some work before it can be called fool-proof." He totally wasn't looking at _some_ members of the Alliance.

"Well, what do you suggest, Commander?" Questioned a man that turned out to have a reasonable mind.

Luke grinned a near feral grin that reminded everyone quickly just who his biological father had turned out to be. "Well, since you're asking…"


	2. Chapter 2

_Thank you for reading the first part of my story that may or may not make any sense. Those who reviewed actually sparked some ideas in my head to make this more interesting. Disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars. I could never do that. Not unless I had billions of dollars and could buy it._

* * *

The entire Alliance Council wore worried looks on their faces, because even the non-military forces had heard of the Skywalker luck, and that desperate planning and said individual did not mix. This plan could be labeled as desperate.

"So you are planning on injecting yourself with an unknown substance that we didn't even know we had that apparently takes away one's connection to the Force to make it appear that you were forced onto a ship that will be programmed to go halfway between us and the Imperials- just outside their tractor beam- and stop, turn, and jump into hyperspace into uncharted regions after giving us the signal to jump to hyperspace ourselves?" Mon Mothma looked at Luke with a barely distinguishable look of disbelief on her face.

"Sounds about right," replied Luke, with his head bent over a flimsy already picking out a ship for him to take.

"Luke, there's too many things that can go wrong! How can we be assured that any of this will work at all?" Leia's worry is apparent, as is her sense

"In this situation, it might be what we need, Leia," Luke looked up calmly and together all too gravely for his age. "I cannot have Vader even try to anticipate what I'm going to do. Too many pieces in a puzzle will at least give you time to escape. That is what I am aiming for here." With this he looks back down, and starts to program the ship with the destination and instructions from the datapad.

Leia then came forward and hugged Luke, not wanting to lose him along with Han.

"You'll see me again, Leia. Maybe not tomorrow, but someday you will," Luke reassured her, hugging her back. It was always hard, saying goodbye to those you considered family when one didn't know if they would come back.

She let him go, wiping her eyes. "You'd better hurry up and go, Luke. We can't make the comm. silence too lengthy."

"Very well. I'm ready."

* * *

Vader just ended the connection with the Rebellion, who agreed to hand over his son, when said son's Force presence went dim. He reached out trying to find him, but it was untraceable. Enough of his Force presence could be seen to know he was alive. He saw a lone ship pull away from the main ship of the Rebel Command Ship, nothing in comparison to his own, the _Executor_. Luke must be on it. Watching it slowly head in his direction, he felt a vague sense of unease, but couldn't put his finger on it. Not with his son so close to him. Just when the lone ship was right outside the tractor beam's range, it jerked to a stop. His son's presence overwhelmed his senses just then

" _I_ _ **CANNOT**_ _join you, Father. No matter what you or the Alliance says."_

 _"Luke?!"_

But at this point the lone ship had turned away from him and the Alliance, which was jumping into lightspeed. This lone ship, carrying his son, jumped into hyperspace towards the Unknown. Away from him.

Vader stands there, stunned, a near replica of what happened after the Bespin failure. Turning to Admiral Piett, he orders the return to Endor. Sweeping away, he storms back into his chambers. Upon arriving at his chambers, he finds a recorded message for him.

His spy shimmers into view. "Lord Vader, I do not want to make excuses for the Rebels, but it appears that Luke acted outside of the Council for his escape. I would not pursue them for this mistake, my Lord. Not if you want to get your son back, nor will you get your daughter," With one last significant look, the spy dissolves, along with the remainder of Vader's sanity.


	3. Chapter 3

_Thank you for reading this story. Since school is getting into full swig, I don't know how long exactly this'll take me. Feel free to comment on any mistakes you see, or any plot holes. Disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars. How could I?_

* * *

He had a daughter. Not only did he have a son, but a daughter as well. They must be twins, because there was no other way he could have a son and a daughter. However, there was no question as to who she could be. If his son inherited from _her_ , then his daughter would have inherited from him. If his son was in the front lines, she would be close by. She would have the ferocity to equal him. And she… she would be very strong. There could be no doubt as to whom it could be. Of course it would be the princess of a destroyed world. Nothing else would do.

Vader sat down in his hyperbaric chamber and the machine above him took his helmet off as he tried to gain control of his swirling thoughts. First he hurt his wife, then he accidentally hurt his son, driving him away. Now he finds out that he is the reason for his daughter's hurt as well. His thoughts swirled from Mustafar, to the Jedi Temple, to Bespin, to the Death Star- The Death Star. There was another one. His- his children… they had to know. Only he could warn them of the destruction that was planned. ' _And why would they listen to you? You threatened the Rebellion, their_ family.' He ignored this voice, and prepared to leave the hyperbaric chamber when a cry reverberated through the Force.

The cry was one of such pain and terror that Vader could do nothing but slump in his chair and try to control the mental pain. But just as quickly as it appeared, it disappeared. The sound of it still rang in his mind as he searched the Force for answers. He found nothing. Not even along the bonds that he had. That was the most worrying. His…master…he hardly felt on a bad day. On a good day, he never felt him at all. Obi-wan's bond was destroyed. He didn't expect to feel anything there, but the bond with Luke…he always felt something. No matter what was going on, he always felt him. And now he was gone.

* * *

Luke fought with the ship's controls as he spun to the surface of the planet below him. None of the instruments were working, he was going blind, and he was losing his grasp on the Force. Not that he had much of a grasp to begin with. But what he did have was slipping, and fast.

"Of the nine Corillian Sith Hells and their spawn," Luke cursed with vigor. Why did he have to go blind _NOW?_ Why did that substance make one lose their vision? What would it have done if he had taken more than that miniscule dose? He roughly pushed the thoughts out of his mind, a little more focused on living than speculating on the past. That was a politician's job. No offence to Leia, or anything, but still.

He thought he was finally got a hold of his ship, when all of the systems turned completely off. Luke could barely see the valley in the distance, but he knew that the ship wouldn't make it. He reached out to the Force, pleasantly surprised to feel it again. Wrapping the Force around the ship he tried to control his decent, so that he wouldn't die. He must have been closer to the ground than he thought, because he soon felt the thud hard against the ground, the Force having only helped a little. When he felt sudden extreme heat, he snapped his eyes open and was greeted with the sight of flames that he could never control. He ran from the cockpit, not noticing that outside the cockpit wasn't the bottom of a forest, but the top of one.

The ship pitched forward, and Luke continued to scramble towards the only exit, which seemed really foolish in hindsight. But when Luke was choosing ships, he wanted one that could go an extremely long way that the Alliance didn't want anymore. So nothing more could be done than try to escape with partial eyesight. Yes, if he had had his full eyesight, he would have seen many ways to break through the walls. But the ship continued to the ground with Luke on it. When the ship beneath him crumpled to the unforgiving rock, flame burst up all around him, making him scream. Even the Force felt his scream. As he went unconscious, flames roaring all around him, he pleaded for help, not even knowing if he would be helped. But helped he would be, for the Force would not let this young man die when he had yet to complete his destiny. Not as the Chosen One, but one who found the way for the Chosen One.

* * *

He dreamed about the Jedi. Mostly, though, he dreamed about healing. Different people giving him the basics, and then he went on from there. The man he was healing was badly broken, with nearly crushed bones, 2nd-3rd degree burns on his face and body. This man was missing a right hand, and his systems had been poisoned. And he learned how to heal it, but even the Force can only do so much. The man's eyes had been burnt out, and the facial scaring was bad enough that it would stay there till the day he died. The left side of his face would never grow hair again. It was a pity, for the man (still young, too. Early 20's) would have been so very strong, but will now always be looked down upon.

But then he learned how to touch the Force for a purpose that wasn't for healing. Mainly, how to see with it, and how to observe with it. How to see someone with the Force became more important than it had ever been. Much like with the healing, he was taught the basics and was then left to grow the skills on his own. It was like they were preparing him for something. He learned how to let the Force show him what it wanted him to learn. Soon, he was passing his strongest teachers in application of the Force. Probably because they saw the Force as a tool, not as a sentient being, which it was.

Then a man with long, tied-back hair came up to him, asking for a moment of his time.

"I have been watching your progress very closely. You've done well in the short while you've been here. My name is Qui-Gon Jinn, and I was Obi-Wan Kenobi's master."

Right. These people with their backwards thinking thought that they could be masters of each other. Stupid, in his opinion.

"Pleasure to meet you Qui-Gon Jinn. Why did you wish to talk to me?" Annoyance must have bled through his words, because Qui-Gon looked at him oddly. _No, it's not about you. It's about the title I seem to have to be okay calling you._

"I wished to talk to you about your future. The Force will be taking you out of this reality, and putting you back into your own. You must know that we have done what we can to prepare you for what lies ahead, young Skywalker, but fate never came easy for anyone. Nor can it, or will it, come easily for you. That man that you healed at the beginning of your stay here? That man was you."

Luke stood still as he absorbed this information. He wouldn't be able to see. He would never look the same again. All too soon, all the memories came rushing back. The crash, the space encounter, the months of recovery, Bespin, Dagobah, Hoth, and so much more. Finally, Luke saw that it was time for him to leave the wonderful place of learning. He had to rejoin the normal world. But…

"How much time has passed?" Even Luke could not deny that there was something different about his tone of voice. More mature maybe? He didn't know, he just knew that it had changed.

"Only a week of time on the planet that you crashed on," This makes Luke sigh in relief until Qui-Gon continues. "And the Empire is on your doorstep. That is why we are sending you back. You cannot be found. Remember that."

With those words echoing in his head, he woke up to 'see' the _Executor_ hanging in the sky, and his father's presence coming down in a ship full of soldiers. And so, using the Force to guide and hide him, he ran. And wouldn't stop running for a long time.


	4. Chapter 4

_I give my thanks to all those who read this compilation of ideas from when I was younger (not too much younger though). If you see anything wrong, please let me know. Disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars. I only play with what Lucas created._

* * *

She hadn't told anybody. Vader's spy came to her, and told her everything, including her parentage. Something inside her believed him, even when her head told her to not believe it. This must be what Luke (her brother!) calls the Force. So she worked with this spy [who will continue to go unnamed] to feed the Empire false news. That had been a year ago. Now, she was 6 months older, the Alliance had gained some ground, and Luke was still missing. Probably somewhere in the Unknown Regions.

But Leia was undeniably worried, and it was all Luke's fault. He had come to her in a vision, he called it, and let her know that he was alive and had been on the run for the past 4 months. He had even told her the peculiar nature of it all.

 _The man sitting on air was facing away from her, and even as she approached she knew he was watching her. The world around them was foggy and not descriptive._

" _So this worked," remarked the sitting man who sounded a lot like Luke. He also sounded relieved._

" _What exactly is this?" Leia had gestured around with frustration._

" _This is a dream landscape through which I was able to contact you. I've been able to stop running long enough to do so. No, don't look at me," the man sitting on air turned away as she tried to walk around him to get a glimpse of his face. "It is better that even you do now truly know what I look like. It makes finding me harder." Leia could respect and understand that, a woman on the run herself._

" _Can you at least clarify who you are? I have my guesses, but I need-"_

" _Really? You cannot tell who I am?" This man now sounded extremely frustrated. "I thought that out of all people, you at least would know. You know me as Luke Skywalker."_

 _Leia stayed silent for a little bit, but the questions wouldn't disappear. "So how are you running?"_

 _Luke seemed like he was smiling, but she couldn't tell for certain. "When the Empire came to the planet that I had crashed on, I waited for an idiot of an imperial. I regrettably killed him and burned him beyond all recognition and placed him at the site of my crash that they conveniently had yet to find. They suspected me dead. And so I stowed aboard the ship, and not even Vader suspected anything. From there I hopped ships until I came to a relatively deserted planet that seemed like a good place to hide. And that stuff that I took to hide myself from Vader actually ended up blinding me, along with the fire and ash from my crash. So now I have no eyes, am having to use the Force for the most mundane things, and I still escaped Vader. The planet that I found is similar to the one I went to before Bespin: so teaming of life and the Force that I can hide easily here and this is where I am speaking from."_

 _Leia pondered this extraordinary story, and asked, "Is there anything I can do to help? And can you help me learn how to do this Force thing, considering that I found out that I might have it?"_

" _Yes to both, actually. First, can you keep Vader away from the Unknown Regions? Second, once I am no longer in danger of being found or starved, I will contact you again and help you get started on that training."_

 _She agreed and as the dream faded away, she heard Luke say one last thing._

" _I never thought I had any remaining family left. To find out that I had a father was extraordinary; to find out that I have a sister, is even more so."_

With that, she woke up and didn't hear from him for two extremely long months of fighting and waiting. So to say that Leia was worried was an understatement. But at least Vader was being kept away from the Unknown Regions, even if the Rouges went in there as often as they could. Soon the Unknown Regions would no longer be unknown to the Alliance of Rebels.

But no matter where they looked, they never found Luke. She just wished that Luke had told them more about where he was.

* * *

Planet after planet, lead after lead, search after search, and no sign of his son. It had been a year, and after the first several blips of Luke's presence coming out of his hiding, there hasn't even been that. Even that _blasted_ Rebellion had to call him MIA, and most likely KIA. As for his daughter…

Vader sighed. Someone had to be teaching her how to at least hide, because her force presence had shone like a beacon in the absence of her brother, but after near wins (but loses all the same), he was no closer to catching her than he was Luke. Even his _spy_ couldn't get her alone. Someone had to be teaching her, and it couldn't be Luke. The Rebellion would send him out on the front lines once they had him back, not keep him close to their chest. That was the way of the warrior Jedi - fighting out front.

Even Darth Sideous couldn't find her _or_ Luke with his precognition prowess (He would never admit this to anyone, but he was very glad that his children could not be caught. That means that they will stay out of the Emperor's hands).

His many Hands were always busy searching for him, no one truly believing him to be dead. The Hands of the Emperor and the Emperor himself could not even catch the new icon of the Rebellion, the Princess of the destroyed world. _'Why must it be my children up front, and not someone else's?'_ He sourly, and silently, raged against destiny. ' _Why must my family always be in the mix of it all?'_ Sadly, even the universe didn't have an answer for him. The Death Star II, at least, had been destroyed by the Rebellion through 'secret' intelligence. As if.

But…even 'secret' intelligence couldn't account for the sudden influx of half-trained Force users that the Empire had missed. That he had missed. So the grand question was: Who is and was training these Force sensitives?


	5. Chapter 5

_Hey, sorry for the long break. School got rough with everything I had to do and I kinda lost interest in the story. I am back for this chapter, at least, and I hope you guys like it. Disclaimer: This is not mine. At all._

* * *

Passage of time meant next to nothing for Luke. He ran, hid, and lived. It turned out to be a good thing that blind men were never intimidating, especially when using a cane. Luke did not need it because his connection with the Force allowed him to 'see' everything he needed to, but it fooled everyone as to his real strength. He ended up on Tatooine, among the ignorance and complacency that he could not stand for. And so he came up with a plan.

Using the vaporators from his Aunt and Uncle's destroyed farm, and the ones from Obi-Wan Kenobi's stead, he made a farm. He was able to contact his sister through the Force, as that was the safest way right now. He sold water and used the money to buy parts for a droid. This droid would be able to do the work around the farm while he was gone. Then he went into Mos Eisley and set himself up to be a mechanic. He fixed things so that no one would have to buy totally new equipment. These gave him an excess of money (no one would call it wealth, but on Tatooine, it was the difference between surviving and dying) that would help him with the next part of the plan. Education.

He would sit in a square and tell stories that the Force provided him. He told stories of past and of present. He never told the stories of the future to any but his sister whom he now spoke with and taught nightly. And so they learned of freedom and rebellion. They learned of slavery and its consequences. He freed slaves in the dead of night and would let them choose their paths. He became known as Freedom Bringer among the slaves, and the Story Teller among the privileged. He was The Destroyer to the masters and The Feared One to the slave sellers. But to the ones in the streets, he was the blind story telling mechanic who loved children and machines. He was the one who gave shade to the weary and water to the thirsty. He was harmless to them and to the Imperials. But Luke's plan worked. He had started a revolution.

But that pales in comparison to what the Force actually had planned for him. His destiny was to take the revolution of the enslaved to more than just the slaves of Tatooine. He was to take it to the Emperor's capitol seat. And so it gave him a dream, one that he would never forget (even when the war was said and done, he would always remember the panic the dream gave him)

* * *

 _He was in a cavern filled with only darkness. The darkness hung around in a way that reminded him of the way it hung around Vader. This was Evil. There was a pathway to the throne in the middle of all the evil that led to a solidification of the Evil in the room. If Luke had eyes, he would have seen a throne room with the Emperor on the grand throne. But all he knew was the pureness of the evil there. Having no light to combat even a little of it, the Evil was dark to its core._

 _But along the path walked a woman, he knew that much. She was sensitive to the Force, but he saw the mark of the Evil One on her soul, and understanding that the evil did not take control of her because she did not know of it. The ignorance in her mind stood out to his as clear as day, and resolved to find a way to fix it._

 _The Force was not done yet, however, and would not let him leave the dream. The young woman knelt before the Evil One, and asked a question that struck him to his very bones._

" _What is my mission, master?"_

" _Find Luke Skywalker, and bring him before me dead or alive."_

 _"Yes my master. It will be as you command."_

 _As she rose, the evil tried to get its hold on her, but her ignorance protected her just this once. She left the cavern without knowing of or noticing the evil that resided there._

* * *

Luke knew that he had been living on borrowed time. This just made it certain about what he was going to do in the time he had. And so he searched for the woman of ignorance, slavery, and great potential power, but to his shock and horror, he found 13 others just like her, and they were all after his head. Finally, Luke asked the Force to help him reach these men and women who where under the control of the Evil One. All he saw from the Force was a scene of him sitting in the street telling stories to children and adults alike on Tatooine. What was he supposed to do with this?

With help from Leia, he finally understood what he could do with the limited help he'd been given. He started trying to contract them like he contacted Leia, but noticed that would only result in a one person conversation, and he did not want to keep them in the dark any longer. So Luke settled himself into a trance and sent out an invitation to his trance to the 14 of them, and waited for them to answer. While waiting, he thought on what he wanted to say and do. After searching, the realization came to him that maybe he would not have to do much planning at all. Because it seems that the 14 Force users answered his beacon at the same time. Luke smiled and waited for the right time to begin.


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer #1: Did not create Star Wars.

Disclaimer #2: This story is not abandoned. Those who actually want to read this should probably go and re-read since it has been so long. I've also tried to straighten out some plot holes I accidently left.

* * *

Using the Force's inspiration about telling stories, Luke made his face more unrecognizable than it already was and faced the 14 who had been touched by the Evil One but who were still ignorant enough to escape it and began to tell a story before they could speak. He told not just any story, however. He told them his story, the story of a young farmer who was swept up into a fight larger than life because of a crazy desert wizard and the death of his aunt and uncle. He told of the escape from an enemy base with a forgotten princess and a smuggler to the base of the Freedom Fighters after the wizard's death. The 14 listened attentively as he told of the fight against the enemy only days after he had left his home planet that resulted in him becoming a renowned hero. He even told them that he found out his father worked as Second in Command in the ranks of the enemy, and how said father pushed him away from the Freedom Fighters. He finally told them how he now fought to free his people and that his story was not done yet, but Luke never told the 14 that it was his story. He told it as if it were a fairy tale, keeping out any mention of the galactic fight they were in.

The 14 were silent for a moment, then they asked the questions Luke had hoped they would ask. The most prominent ones were, of course, "Who are you?" and "Who are they?"

Luke simply held up his hand and waited for them to stop talking. When they did, he put his hand down and asked for them to form a circle. After they did so, Luke began.

"I am a Teacher. I tell stories and help those who have need of my help. I got the scars on my face from a ship crash and they will never heal. Now can you please tell me who you are? Just because I called you here does not mean that I know your name."

The Force rejoiced as Luke Skywalker started his second rebellion in half a year, but this time it would be under the Emperor's very nose. Luke would continue to rescue slaves and he would soon start to rescue others who were Force sensitive so that they would stay out of the Emperor's grasp.

* * *

Leia laid her head down on her pillow so that she might attempt to sleep again. It's not as if she ever actually did anymore, especially not since a month ago when Luke came to her for the second time in a dream. He had apologized for the long wait, but stated that he was finally somewhere stable. He was back on Tatooine, not in the Unknown Regions, and he had started 2 revolutions in the past 6 months: a slave revolution, and a revolution of Force users in the Empire itself. Maybe now, she thought absently, she could tell the spy who came from Vader to tell him that Luke was known the Unknown Regions. That would keep him off their tail.

"Princess Leia?" asked her female aid who took care of correspondence that was unknown or when she was asleep. "Are you still awake?"

"Yes. What is it, Lilly?" She wasn't going to sleep anyways. The war took care of that.

"There is a message for you. The person who left it said you would know what it meant."

Lilly sounded too unsure for this to be regular. Maybe one of the people Luke talked of finally got in contact with her. He did say that they wanted to be of use to the Rebellion once they realized the lies they had been told, but that they wanted to stay separate for the time being.

"I can see it right away, Lilly. Thank you."

She turned off the comm and walked out her room and down the hall so that she could reach the communications center. She met Lilly at a station in a corner, even though there was no one who was there, and read the message displayed on the screen.

"I am one of the Emperor's Hands. Your brother told me to tell you that 'I have come to rescue you'. An attack will head towards your known base in 24 hours of me sending this message. Get everyone out if you can. This attack will be worse than most."

Leia turned to Lilly, and calmly stated "I think I know a planet in the Unkown Regions that would be great for a new base. Good thing we were planning on leaving anyways." She mentally added to herself 'Better not tell Vader about the Unknown Regions. I'll have to think of somewhere else Luke could be.'


End file.
